Green Planet
by McGann's Girl
Summary: CHAPTER 10 IS FINALLY UP!!! Andromeda crew crashes into an uncharted planet destined to self-destruct... just harper/trance--- for now... heh. r&r please!
1. Memories

Trance stepped briskly down the hall. It was too early in the morning for anyone on the ship to be awake, but she found herself walking along the hall to Harper's bed quarters anyway. As she rounded the corner, she heard a muted cry, then another. She stopped. It was coming from inside Harper's room. "Harper?" she knocked tentatively on the door.  
A muffled yelp.  
"Harper?" Trance repeated. "Harper, are you alright in there?" Panic was clearly rising in her feeble morning voice. She listened.  
Silence. Then an agonized moan.  
"Harper!" Trance banged on the door. "Open up!" But the door didn't open.   
More frantic screams.  
"Rommie!" A holo-Rommie appeared within seconds.  
"Yes?" she asked with her arms folded across her chest.  
"Rommie, can you open the door?" Trance was trying to not yell.  
Holo-Rommie nodded and disappeared just as the door hissed and slid open. Trance rushed in.   
Harper was thrashing violently in his bed. His eyes were wide open, but they had a glazed-over look to them, as if he were seeing something just over her shoulder. He was obviously having a nightmare. Trance hurried over to his side. "Harper, it's okay..." she whispered, reaching out to touch his arm. She let out a yelp as he started to attack her. "Harper!"Trance yelled desperately. "It's me! Trance!" She tried to hold him down, but he seemed to have the muscular advantage and lunged for her. They toppled onto the floor. Trance fended him off as best she could. He had to wake up some time, right? "Ouch!" she yelped as he smacked her across the face. They were on their knees now. Trance cringed as she whacked him back, hard. I'm so sorry, she thought. But it worked.   
Harper blinked. His arms stopped thrashing. He started gasping for air.   
"Shhh. It's ok... just breathe for me, will you? Shhh..." Trance held his face up. But Harper kept gasping in raspy wheezes, as if something were choking him... But he's awake, Trance thought with relief. Awake. Harper bent over and his forehead landed on her shoulder. Trance hugged him around his neck. "It's ok... it was just a dream. Just a dream..." Trance didn't know if he could hear her, but to her surprise, Harper let out a ragged breath. "Harper?" He was crying. 


	2. Dreams, Beams, and Cerebral Implants

Harper studied the slip stream drive. It seemed like he was repairing it forever in a day. "Shit," he snapped to himself as he shocked his finger. He was trying to forget about the incident that had occurred earlier that morning. He wasn't sure what he was going to tell Trance when he saw her. 'Man, I'm such a loser!' he thought to himself. 'Crying in front of Trance... oh that's bad.'   
"Hey," said a meek voice from the doorway. He jumped and hit his head on the circuit breaker door.   
"Damn..." he rubbed his brow. "Oh! Trance..." She looked so beautiful just then. Harper gulped. "So, ah... You must be wanting to talk about this morning..."  
"Only if you feel ready."  
"Why wouldn't I feel ready?"  
"Well-"  
"You don't even know what the dream was about!"  
"Harper, I didn't mean-"  
"Naw, of course you didn't! Just leave me alone!" Trance looked so hurt as she left the room. 'Aw man, I've really pulled one now... smooth move Harper,' he scolded himself. But he didn't call after her. He just let her leave. 'Damn... I'm such an idiot...'  
  
***************  
  
Trance avoided Harper all day. She was so mad at him! And he didn't even care that she had been there for him! It was late, dinner time, and Trance wandered through the corridors. She stopped when she heard Rommie over the intercom: "Trance to medical ward." Trance sighed.  
When she got to the medical wing, she spotted Harper perched on the edge of a medical bed; his gaze never left the ground as she stepped in.   
"I'm fine really. I just need some ointment or whatever." He touched his cerebral implant and winced.  
Trance opened a cabinet and pulled out a small tube. "Here." She handed it to him and turned to leave when Harper called out:  
"Wait. Trance... I'm sorry."  
Trance stood with her back to him. She looked at the floor.  
"Come on. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. I was a jerk. I'm sorry." After a long pause, "Please say something..." Trance turned around and smiled slightly, then frowned.   
"You were way out of line when you yelled at me..."  
"I know. I just- it's just-"  
"I forgive you," Trance cut in. Harper smirked. "Here," Trance rolled her eyes, "let me help you with the ointment."  
"Aw, thanks, my golden goddess."  
Trance grinned. "So what happened?" she asked as she pulled the cap off the tube.  
"Oh, yeah, that. I shocked myself while I was workin' on that friggen slip stream- Ow! Careful, babe!"  
"Sorry," Trance said as she swiped on some ointment around the base of the cerebral implant. "I'm glad we're friends again."  
"Yeah, me too, babe."  
Trance beamed.  
  
***************  
  
They stood before the massive window, looking out at the stars.   
"Does it still hurt?" Trance asked, lightly touching the round circuit fixed just below Harper's right ear.   
"Naw, not anymore."  
"Did it hurt when you had it put in?" Trance traced her finger around it. Harper felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickling.  
"Ahh... don't remember exactly. Wait. Are you hitting on me?" he half joked.   
Trance wrinkled her nose. "No! You are so twisted!" They both laughed. "So, you ready to talk?" Trance ventured.  
Harper let out his breath. "Yeah. But you have to promise to not interrupt until I'm done, ok?"  
"Deal."  
"Well, I had a dream about when my parents were killed-" Trance bit her lip to hold back a comment- "And they were taking them away. Then they tried to take me away too and I was fighting them. And then I was watching my cousin in the revolt on Earth and I was seeing him get killed so I tried to help, but nothing seemed do work. It was like I was invisible and no one could see or feel me. I guess that's when I woke up." Trance looked so concerned so he threw in, "Pretty friggen weird, huh?"  
"You don't have to do that," Trance put a hand on his arm. Harper looked away. He wasn't gonna get all mushy-gushy, even with Trance! But all the same- "Harper I understand. I'm so sorry." He shook his head. He didn't need her pity. "Loosing family is horrible, I know. Loosing anyone that you care about is awful..." and there seemed to be more meaning to that phrase than just his dream. Her hand felt so soothing on his arm... NO! His macho persona was fading away, and Harper was afraid of what was left. He brought his free hand up and held it over hers. His eyes were burning. Trance put her other hand to his cheek and left it there. "I know, Harper, I know..." she whispered as she ran her thumb over his cheek bone. Harper searched for the right words. He wanted to tell her how grateful he was for her support, her understanding. For simply being his friend through thick and thin, purple and golden, magog eggs and no magog eggs, she was always loyal to their friendship. And he could be such a jerk sometimes...  
"Thanks," was all Harper managed to say. 'Thanks? Man, was that lame! I should have just said nothing. The strong silent type-' He stopped kicking himself when he realized just how close Trance's face was to his. He opened his mouth to say something, but Trance pressed a finger over his lips. A chill went up his spine. 'Don't ruin your friendship! NO!' "Trance..." he started to say, but stopped. Was he leaning in or was she? Were they both? Were they even aware that they were leaning into eachother? Trance slid her arm around his neck. Before he could stop himself, Harper's hand was around her tiny waist. 'No!' screamed a tiny voice inside his head, 'she trusts you! Don't take advantage of her!' But there it was. Their lips were barely a hair's width away from eachother, almost touching, when suddenly-  
Andromeda jerked violently to the side, catapulting the two across the room. The alarms blared. The lights flickered.   
"Trance!" Harper grabbed her arm. "Are you ok?"  
Two wide brown eyes stared back at him. "What- what happened?" she stuttered.   
Just then Dylan's voice yelled into the intercom. "All crew! Report to the command deck at once!" it crackled. Harper and Trance stumbled down the hall to the command deck as the ship rocked violently back and forth. They held onto eachother to keep their balance.  
  
***************  
  
"Rommie! What the hell is going on?!?!" Beka screeched as she skidded into the command ward. "Dylan! You alright?" Dylan was lifting himself up from the floor.  
"Fine, just fine."  
Rommie scrambled in, followed by Tyr, then Harper and Trance. Everyone got into their positions.  
"What happened?" Trance gasped as the ship gave another jolt.   
"It looks like we're headed straight for a planet," Dylan looked out the window.  
"But there isn't a thing on the radar!' Beka protested. There was a silence.  
"We're being sucked into the atmosphere of the planet," virtual-Rommie reported, popping up onto the screen. "I believe we flew too close to it and its gravitational pull-"  
"We're going to crash," Tyr stated non-chalantly. Everyone stared at him.  
"Oh, do you ever NOT state the obvious?" Beka snapped, glaring at him.   
"Oh God, we're here," Rommie gasped.  
Trance looked up at Harper. He held her gaze and then her world spun into darkness...  
  
****  
BWAHAHAHAHA!!!*laughs evilly* woo i'm having fun. ok. i'll write more soon... later! ~muches~ 


	3. The first encounter

Beka awoke to the buzz of overloaded circuits and the snap-crackling of blown fuses. A single light flickered like a candle in a dark cave. She sat up and rubbed her head. Her eyes widened as she looked around. Everyone had been knocked to the back of the command deck; crew mates were strewn about among the debris. 'At least the ship seems to be in one piece...' Beka thought with a slight sigh, hoping to not jinx it. Her head snapped in the direction of an arm just barely moving. She stood up and waited a moment for her head to stop swimming before picking her way through the mess to the body. On her way over, she noticed how much lighter she felt than usual. She could almost leap without touching the floor. 'It must the difference in gravity,' she thought. Rommie. Rommie was the one she had spotted. Her eyes were wide open and she lay straight with her limbs splayed out around her. Her head was looking straight up at the arched steel caging of the ceiling.   
  
"Beka? Beka is that you?" and if she had been human, Rommie would have let out a sigh of relief. "I was beginning to think that everyone was dead..." she shuddered.  
  
"Why didn't you get up?" Beka inquired, realizing that Rommie hadn't so much as turned her head in her direction. "You're just lying there."  
  
"I think I'll need Harper for this job. I can't move anything but my lips and eyes." Beka looked at Rommie's arm. It was torn open, revealing the wires that lay underneath. They sparked in a few places. That must have been what caught her attention.  
  
"Well, unfortunately I think we're the only two up at this point."  
  
"And what makes you say that I wonder," Tyr's deep voice reverberated off the lifeless steel walls of the room. Beka jumped.  
  
"Goddammit Tyr! Do you wait for these moments just to scare the pants off me?"  
  
Tyr grinned at the thought. "Well now, I wouldn't want to give you the wrong impression."  
  
Beka rolled her eyes. "How long have you been up?"  
  
"Oh... an hour or so," Tyr waved a hand through the air, sticking out his jaw slightly.  
  
"An HOUR?!?! God, Tyr! You could have at least said something when I woke up! What have you been doing? Anything?"  
  
"While I hate to break this up..." Rommie cut in, "I do have a slight problem here... Not to mention the fact that we just crash-landed on an uncharted planet. I've completely shut down. All the computers are fried for the time being-" She stopped when the three heard a sudden sound coming from above them.  
  
Thump... thump... thump.  
  
Something was crawling ontop of the ship. All three shipmates stood totally still.  
  
Thump... thump-thump... thump-thump-thump.  
  
The creature was banging on the roof. Then there were more thumps, and the sound became thunderous. The banging was wild and seemingly at random. Whatever was causing the assault was obviously of enormous size and in great quantity.   
  
"We'll have to fight them. I don't think they plan on leaving," Tyr whispered through the side of his mouth.   
  
"Voluntarily," Beka added as one very loud "thump" echoed from directly overhead.  
  
"You two will have to find a way to scare them off," Rommie said softly.  
  
"Scare? You expect me to scare these things off?" Tyr raised his eyebrows in retort.  
  
"We. You mean 'we' are going to scare them off."  
  
Rommie made a small noise barely audible above the pounding. "I'm afraid I won't be of any help to you two. Your on your own. But I suggest you do something-" She looked up at the ceiling, "-fast. At this rate they may break through."  
  
Beka and Tyr looked at each other. They seemed to think the same thing at the same time. Without a word, they both took off in the direction of the weapon storage area.  
  
***************  
  
"You sure this is a good idea?" Beka asked as they made their way to the door.  
  
"Do you have a better plan in mind?" Tyr was double-checking his gun to see that it was loaded. He saw the look on Beka's face and said, "Fine, I'll go first."  
  
"So what do you think is out there?"  
  
Tyr paused with his hand hovering over the release button to open the door. He shrugged slightly. "Probably nothing too friendly."  
  
"I actually meant the atmosphere. I mean... if we feel so much lighter and we're still on the ship, doesn't that make you wonder what it's like out there?"  
  
"We're about to find out-" Tyr pressed the button with his palm. Beka held her breath.   
  
'Tyr doesn't care about anything,' she thought to herself. 'He just wants to kick these aliens' asses.' The door hissed and slid open. The two shielded their eyes. The terrain looked barren and rocky. The surface was covered in a red sand. But there was no time to make observations. The sound of Tyr's gun screamed above the pounding on the roof. A huge towering creature shrieked and fell before them. The pounding stopped. Beka could see the aliens leaping off the ship in huge bounds. There was a sudden stampede and everything shook violently as the herd raced off across the planet's desert. Tyr dropped his weapon to his side. "Close the door!" Beka managed to squeak out. Quickly, Tyr fumbled with the button. The door closed. They both collapsed on the floor, gasping for breath.  
  
"There's barely any air out there," Tyr panted, chest heaving.  
  
After a moment to catch her breath, Beka nodded. "Let's get back to the command deck." And with that, they hoisted each other up and dashed down the corridor to report their discoveries to Rommie.  
  
************  
~ok ppls! more is on the way! r&r pleaz! ~muches 


	4. Dylan's warning

Back at the command deck, Dylan and Harper had woken up. Harper sat stooped over Rommie, trying to figure out what main fuse had blown. Dylan stood nearby surveying all of Andromeda's damage and pulling pieces of rubble over to the side of the room. Everything was quiet apart from the dragging of metal parts across the floor.  
  
"Ouch!" Harper pulled his finger to his mouth and sucked on it. Rommie looked up. "Just a little shock," he smirked. "I've almost got you working again. You'll be hoppin' an' skippin' in no time!" He glanced over at a still-unconscious Trance for a moment. He and Dylan had moved her over to a cleared area, away from the rubble. She had an angelic look about her when she slept, Harper thought to himself. So peaceful...  
  
"Ack! Watch it!" Rommie squinted her eyes as her arm crackled and sparked.  
  
"Oh. Sorry, babe." He focused his attention back to fixing Rommie. She smiled to herself, knowing who he'd been looking at. She wondered what all went on between them behind closed doors. Nothing romantic she knew, but there was always that light that lit up Trance's face when she talked about him, or how Harper always seemed so at home when Trance was in his company...   
  
After a few more minutes, Harper sat back on his heels. "All better. Here, sit up! Wiggle your fingers!" Rommie did so. She examined her fingers and hands, twisting her wrists around. "Am I a friggen genius or what?" Harper said, pleased with his work.  
  
Just then, Beka and Tyr came stumbling into the room. "Beka! Tyr!" Dylan sprinted over. "Are you two okay?"  
  
"You're- you're both," Beka spotted Harper standing up, "awake! How are you guys feeling?"  
  
"Peachy," Harper ran his fingers through his hair.  
  
"We're fine, but never mind that now. What happened?" Dylan asked, full of concern and curiosity.  
  
Tyr heaved a great sigh of what appeared to be disappointment, and flopped his gun down with a clatter onto the floor. "No real action. They all ran away once the first one was down."  
  
"First what?" Harper was intrigued.  
  
"Aliens. They're amazing!" Beka waved her free hand.  
  
"Not to mention huge and stupid," Tyr added with distaste.  
  
"Are they dangerous?" Dylan motioned for the two to sit down with him next to Rommie.  
  
"Well, they're definitely strong," Rommie said looking up at the ceiling.  
  
Beka and Tyr both turned. "You're moving again!" Beka said with relief. She glanced at Trance lying peacefully on the floor a meter away just behind Rommie. "How is she?"  
  
"I think she's just unconscious," Harper was leaning over her. "I hope," he whispered to himself.  
  
**************  
  
"So what do you propose we do? Sit and wait for their next ambush?" Beka complained. They were all discussing battle strategies. Trance was still unconscious, and Rommie had pulled Harper away- with some difficulty- to join in the meeting. She now stood watch over the fragile golden creature as she tried to get back on line.  
  
The discussion continued just down the hall in another room from which the door had been pried open. Many other rooms and entire wings of the ship were inaccessible because their doors were jammed shut from the impact of the landing. The arguments continued:  
  
"Do you have a better plan?" Tyr was asking. "We can't risk loosing more oxygen from the ship by opening the doors to the outside. We don't have much air left as it is! And unless Rommie can get back online, we may suffocate."  
  
"There must be some air out there," Dylan said with a pensive look on his face. "Otherwise, those aliens wouldn't be alive. I used to do a little bit of mountain climbing when I was on Earth- before," he added seeing Harper's face twist slightly. "Sometimes it felt like there was hardly any air, but it was just the high altitude. We had to acclimate ourselves so that we wouldn't get altitude sickness. If we stay in here and let the air slowly decrease, then we're more likely to survive this."  
  
"Well what happens when you get this 'mountain sickness' as you call it?" Tyr sounded somewhat amused.  
  
Dylan thought for a moment. Then he looked back up at his crew. "It's no laughing matter, Tyr. You get bad headaches and you can't sleep well or think very clearly at times. You have trouble breathing even when you're sitting still, and you tend to throw up a lot more than you take in."  
  
"Sounds fun," Harper raised one eyebrow. Beka shifted slightly. Tyr appeared to be unaffected by the unpleasant news.  
  
"Nothing I haven't handled before," he said sounding bored.  
  
"I highly doubt that," Beka retorted.  
  
"Either way, we want to avoid it at all costs. We can't risk it," said Dylan firmly. No one objected. 'It really is hell,' he thought to himself, shuddering at the memory.  
  
"So we just stay here and wait it out?" asked Beka.  
  
Dylan nodded.  
  
"And what if those alien thingys come back for another round?" Harper asked edgily.  
  
"We'll deal with that when it comes," Dylan stated plainly. Beka and Harper glanced at each other uneasily. To Harper, the thought of waiting on the ship was like volunteering to be a sitting duck. A huge ship in the middle of a flat desert. Just about as obvious as they could get.  
  
"She's awake!" Rommie's voice echoed down the hall. Everyone sprung to their feet and ran to the command deck.  
  
****************  
  
Harper was the first to reach the room. He sprinted over to where Rommie was helping Trance to sit up. "Trance!" he called out in excitement. She winced and grabbed her throbbing head.  
  
"Shh!" Rommie scolded softly. "She just woke up, remember?"  
  
"Oh, sorry," Harper said sheepishly, kneeling down beside his golden friend. Rommie moved back slightly and let Harper take her place. Trance let Harper gently lean her against the wall. "Hey," he whispered. "How ya feelin'?" Trance looked up through glassy eyes into her friend's.  
  
"Aughh..." was all she could manage to get out. It felt as if she had forgotten how to speak while she was asleep.  
  
"It's ok, you don't have to answer," Harper lightly took her hand. She felt the heat from his hand travel into her cold, stiff one. "Whoa! You're friggen freezing! Hey Rommie! We got any blankets or something?" He rubbed Trance's hand between his two to tried and warm her up. There was an awkward silence. Trance stiffened slightly.   
  
"Trance!" Beka rushed over. "Hey there!" she said more softly, noticing Trance's hand to her head- the one that Harper wasn't holding she also noted. Trance nodded meekly. Dylan and Tyr came bounding in.   
  
"You're awake!"  
  
"We thought you'd never get up!"  
  
"You won't believe what happened!"  
  
"There's so much to tell you!"  
  
They all started jabbering at once like a serge of water over a stretch of sand.  
  
"It's good to have you back," Harper whispered in her ear. She smiled and let her muscles relax slightly, glad to have his warm hands holding to hers. 


	5. Waiting

"Ah ha!" Beka called out triumphantly and dove head first into the barrel. She and Dylan had found their way in the darkness to the canteen and had been searching for food. Everyone was positively ravenous with hunger now that roughly two or three full days had passed. Beka emerged with her arms full of freeze-dried packages. Dylan stumbled over (no one was too coordinated any more- the hunger no doubt).   
  
"Food!" he cried. They both immediately dug in. After several minutes, Dylan stopped. "We should save some for the others, Beka."  
  
"There's a whole barrel full," Beka said, mouth full. Dylan stood up.  
  
"Come on. Let's get as much as we can carry and head back." Beka sighed and helped pour all of the barrel's content onto the floor. They stuffed it all into bags and munched on a few things as they made their way back to the command deck.   
  
***************  
  
Harper, Tyr, Trance, and Rommie were waiting in the command ward. Harper was on his back, inspecting wires and circuits, his head and shoulders hidden under the counter. Rommie too was trying to find the source of the problem. Tyr leaned against the wall inspecting the weapons that they had hoarded up to the deck. There was a wide verity of fire arms. Each crew mate carried a small hand gun with them at all times- just in case. Trance was still recuperating, so she sat relatively still in a corner on the opposite side of the room from Harper. Rommie wondered why there was suddenly so much tension between the two. Well, whatever it was, she had faith that they would work it out eventually.  
  
Dylan and Beka came in, munching on freeze-dried snacks.   
  
"Aw, share the wealth!" Harper dashed over and grabbed some packages out of Beka's knap sack. Tyr came over slowly and took his share too. Harper brought some food over to Trance and sat down next to her. Beka and Dylan stood eating while Rommie briefed the two on her and Harper's progress. Tyr hung back, but listened in.  
  
"Harper thinks that he may know where the main source of the power outage is, but he'd have to find his way there in the dark," Rommie reported. "HE claims that he can find his own way there, but I didn't want to send him off without running it by you first." She acknowledged the two.   
  
"Thank you," Dylan nodded. "I appreciate that."  
  
"Well? Do you think he should go by himself?" Beka looked at Dylan. He thought for a moment.  
  
"Maybe not alone, but we need Rommie up here," Dylan thought out loud.  
  
"So we should send someone else with him?" Rommie glanced over at Harper sitting in silence with Trance as the two ate.  
  
"Well I was planning on making another run to the weapon storage," Tyr cut in.   
  
"Yes, well, that's in the opposite direction of where Harper's planning on going," Rommie said, still watching Harper and Trance over Dylan's shoulder.  
  
"Trance?" Beka lowered her voice a bit. "But she's still recovering, Rommie."  
  
"I know, but who else is there that would be willing to go?"  
  
Dylan shrugged. "I can go with him. I might not be much help but I'll volunteer. And besides, Trance needs her rest. In these conditions, everyone needs to be in good health if they want to survive this."  
  
"Alright then," Beka said. "So are you going to go tomorrow?"  
  
"Most likely," Dylan said over his shoulder as he strode over to Harper and Trance. Since the two weren't speaking, he wasn't really interrupting anything.   
  
"Hey Dylan! Good food!" Harper said, taking another bite of the freeze-dried contents in a wrapper.   
  
Dylan nodded. "I'll come with you to where ever it is that you think you can find the problem. We should get an early start tomorrow." He turned to Trance. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"I'm really ok..." Trance said slowly. "If I can help at all-"   
  
Dylan shook his head sharply. "No, you wait until you have enough energy to stand up for more than three minutes. Then we'll give you something to do."   
  
Trance sighed softly and nodded silently. She hated not being useful.  
  
"Tomorrow then," Dylan looked back at Harper.  
  
"A'ight, tomorrow."  
  
**************  
  
Trance woke up after Harper and Dylan had left. She sat up and looked around. Beka was the only one in the room besides herself. Her head didn't rush as much when she sat up this time, so she stood, supporting herself against the wall.  
  
"Hey sleepy," Beka smiled warmly. "Feeling better then?"  
  
"I'm fine," Trance took her hand away from the wall. She walked over to where Beka was sitting. "So what are you doing?"  
  
"Waiting. That's really all I can do at this point."  
  
"Where are Tyr and Rommie?"  
  
"Oh," Beka waved her hand, "Tyr's down in the cargo bay I think. God only knows what he's up to. Rommie's just a few doors down, but she'll be back soon." She looked Trance over. "You wanna talk?"  
  
Trance sat down. "Sure."  
  
"Anything in particular?"  
  
"No, well, yes... no..."   
  
"Is it about Harper?" Beka asked after a moment of watching Trance argue with herself.  
  
Trance looked up in alarm. "How did you-"  
  
"I don't know anything. You two just seem a little different around each other. Ever since we crashed."  
  
"It's nothing. I just... I'm just... I'm a little confused right now. That's all."  
  
"Okay, well, did Harper tell you about Dylan's warning?"  
  
"No...?"  
  
"He said that on Earth, before Harper's time that is, people would climb mountains. He thinks that there IS air out there on this planet, there's just not a lot of it. He told us about 'mountain sickness'. It sounds pretty bad."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well," Beka thought for a moment, "Dylan said that when you're up at high altitudes, there's not as much oxygen. So in order to avoid mountain sickness, you have to acclimate yourself." Trance tried to take everything in. "That means that you slowly decrease your oxygen supply. You know, like not going from one extreme to the other."  
  
"Well yes, I knew that, but what does mountain sickness DO?"  
  
"Dylan said that you get headaches and you have trouble breathing even when you're sitting still. And you throw up a lot." Beka added.   
  
"There's probably more to it than that," Trance thought out loud. There was a long pause.   
  
"So," Beka said finally, "you wanna hear about my alien encounter?" She raised her eyebrow in mock-suspence.  
  
"Sure," Trance smiled.  
  
******************  
  
Dylan beamed his flashlight down the dark corridor. "Are we getting there?" he asked. They'd been walking around the ship for at least half the day.  
  
"Yeah, I think that's it right down there," Harper pointed to a door coming up on the left. The two squeezed through the tiny gap that the jammed door had left open, and stepped inside the room. Appliances sat still, tools were scattered about the floor. Harper stopped for a moment. Was this the right room? It felt so different without the familiar hum of a smoothly running ship engine. Now it was an alien quiet. It almost felt like a different place all together.  
  
"Are you sure this is the right room?" Dylan asked cautiously, stepping over a metal contraption.  
  
"Sure I'm sure," Harper began to scoop up tools and return them to their rightful places.  
  
"Well, I'll be here if you need anything. Just holler," Dylan sat down by the door.   
  
Harper nodded and got to work. He scanned the machinery and picked a circuit breaker door that was ajar. He began to whistle to himself as he worked away. He was thinking though. He wondered what he would tell Trance when they finally got around to talking about that "almost-kiss". He couldn't tell if he regretted it or not. But either way, it wasn't worth loosing a friendship over. He'd just tell her that he was sorry and that he hadn't meant to lead her on like that. He felt so ridiculous! He had almost kissed her when she was just trying to be sympathetic! And obviously she hadn't really wanted to kiss him. 'I mean, come on Harper! This is Trance we're talking about!' he thought to himself. 'She would never do something like that!'   
  
*************  
  
The lights flickered. "Power!" Beka cried.   
  
"I can feel it!" Rommie, who had returned to the command deck, looked at her open palms.   
  
Trance smiled widely. 'I knew you could do it Harper,' she thought happily to herself. But suddenly-  
  
There was the sound of power draining from the ship. A high-pitched sound that rapidly falls until there's nothing but silence left. The lights flickered off again.  
  
*************  
  
"Damn!" Harper yelled. "I almost had it too!"  
  
"It's ok Harper," Dylan sounded a tad disappointed. "Just keep trying. You almost had it for a second."  
  
"Yeah..." Harper grumbled and slid back under the network of wires. 


	6. A looming presence

// ok peeps, from now on i'm gonna be using info from www.nols.edu/Publications/First Aid/Altitudeillness.html *whoa that's long...* ok just thought i should give them some credit... i'm writing up a frenzy now cuz i have no skool! *thanks the snow outside the window*... now... on with the story!//  
  
****************  
  
Dylan was starting to worry. They had been waiting on the ship to acclimate themselves for another half a week, and the altitude sickness was getting closer, he knew. He could feel it, like a looming presence. Even he himself was feeling a little short of breath when he was doing anything strenuous.   
  
Just then, Beka broke out in a dry cough. Dylan looked up. "I'm fine, it's just something in my throat," she said, seeing Dylan's alarm. He nodded. He hoped that was all it was...  
  
****************  
  
"Hey you guys, I'm gonna head down to the boiler room again," Harper said to everyone on the command deck as he turned to leave.  
  
"I'm coming with you," Trance picked up a flashlight and started after him.   
  
He stopped, but nodded and waited for Trance to catch up to him. "So," he said after they had made it down three corridors and were turning into a fourth, "come to see the master at work, eh?" He wasn't going to bring up the "almost-kiss" right away. That would be a nice ice-breaker for sure.  
  
Trance did her usual eye roll. "Just thought I'd keep you company."  
  
"A'ight then. Ooo careful-" he caught her just as she tripped over a piece of fallen debris.  
  
"Thanks," she said quietly.  
  
After what seemed like forever, they finally reached the right room. They crawled through the gap in the doorway and set their flashlights down. Harper immediately set out to work; he was determined to get the ship up and running again. Trance just stood there for a moment. Harper looked up. "What is it?" he asked as he started to tap away at the wires.  
  
"Nothing. It just feels so different without that drone that it usually makes down here."  
  
Harper smiled to himself before agreeing, "Yeah, I thought that too when me and Dylan first found our way down here."  
  
"It's so dark..." Trance hugged her arms to her chest.  
  
"Naw, you get used to it. Hey..." he added, "it's ok. It's still the same ol' room. Just a little darker."  
  
"Yeah," Trance sighed and sat down cross-legged near where Harper was working. After a brief pause, Harper got back to work.  
  
Trance sat thinking. She wondered if he would bring up that incident... or would she have to? She was almost positive that Harper had wanted to kiss her. She felt a little embarrassed. After all, she had been the one to make the first move. Without a doubt, he had noticed that too. And if they hadn't crashed right then--- Trance shook her head. This was silly. Why was she putting so much thought into it? But she was so confused. It was like she had wanted to kiss him--- really. Did she have feelings for him then? What a question. Her best friend in the whole wide world, and she might have romantic feelings for him? That could ruin everything... or make it. Trance clenched her small hands into fists. She would just have to tell him how she felt. What if they died here? She couldn't stand the thought of dying without Harper knowing how she really felt- or at least, how she THOUGHT she really felt. 'Alright,' she told herself determinedly, 'I'll tell him when the right moment comes.' And with that, she sat back and closed her eyes, listening to the faint whistling of Harper, the tapping of his tools, her own slow breathing, and thought about her and Harper... together. She smiled inwardly.  
  
**************  
  
Tyr sighed. "I don't think that I have ever been so bored in my entire life."  
  
"Join the club," Beka tilted her head back against the wall. "I mean, how much more waiting do we have to do?"   
  
"Enough to make sure that we won't get sick," Dylan said firmly.  
  
"Augg!" Beka pulled at her hair. Dylan had been saying that over and over again- even if it was true. "And why do we have to be SO damn careful about this anyway?!?!"  
  
"Because we don't want to DIE!" Dylan snapped and left the room. Beka was always complaining.   
  
Tyr cleared his throat.  
  
Beka sighed and sat up. "Hey Tyr, you want something to eat?"  
  
"No thank you. I'm not that hungry."  
  
"You haven't eaten anything in two days!"  
  
"Well," Tyr said irritably, "it's hard to eat anything when you don't have the appetite for it!"  
  
They sat, not uttering a single word to one another.  
  
**************  
  
Dylan sat down, exasperated. "What is it?" Rommie asked. She seemed to be the only one in generally high spirits. But then again, she was an android.  
  
Dylan covered his hands over his face and slid them down. "I don't know. I'm just not in a good mood. Everyone seems to be bickering constantly. They're getting impatient."  
  
"They'll get over it Dylan." She looked at Dylan intensely, then added, "They just need some time to cool off."  
  
"I don't know... Am I doing the right thing Rommie? Making everyone stay inside like this? Maybe if I let them explore a little bit. Just a little bit..."  
  
"Dylan, you're not thinking clearly. You can't let any air out of this ship. You know that. You have to acclimate, remember?"  
  
Dylan sat in silence. "No, you're right, I need to stick with the plan." He rested his head in his hands.  
  
"That's right," Rommie nodded. "So, you want to take a little stroll down to the canteen with me?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
With that, they headed off down the hall.  
  
****************  
  
Harper arched his back. He was getting sore from lying in the same position for hours. He looked up at the intricate network of wires above him. He reached up to clip one wire when suddenly--- he rubbed his eyes. He had just slid into double vision and had seen two of that one red wire, two pairs of his hands reaching up with two of the same tool. 'I need to get more sleep,' he thought to himself. He hadn't been sleeping well for days now. 'Trance must be asleep by now...' He wiped his hands on his shirt and kept tapping away.  
  
"Harper?"  
  
He jumped and lay flat under the counter. "Yeah?" came his muffled response.  
  
"Can we talk?" Harper stopped tapping at the wires. Everything was quiet.  
  
"Sure," Harper slid out and sat up to face Trance. 'Oh God, here it comes,' he thought in sudden fear. 'What am I gonna say? Just be smooth... apologize to her about what you did and save your friggen friendship!'  
  
"Well," Trance cast her eyes down into her lap, "we need to talk about... that thing." Harper said nothing. Trance continued, "I- well I think that-"  
  
"Stop right there," Harper suddenly cut in. "I'm really sorry about that. I didn't mean to do it. It was just- I don't know- I was just in the moment. It didn't mean anything. I'm so sorry that I jeopardized our friendship like that. We're just friends, right?" 'There,' he thought with slight satisfaction, 'now she doesn't hate me and we're still friends.' But then he saw her face twist. She stared straight into his eyes for only a few seconds.   
  
Trance's vision blurred. She gasped to hold back the tears that had suddenly sprung to her eyes. 'No... he doesn't care about me...' She stood up abruptly and ran out of the room, not able to bear being there with him. She felt humiliated, defeated.   
  
"Trance!" Harper yelled after her in surprise. He was so confused. What had just happened? He dashed after her. "Trance! Come on!" He struggled through the narrow doorway. "You don't even have a flashlight! Trance!" He reached out and managed to grasp her arm as it swung back.  
  
"Get off me!" she screeched, tearing at his hand.  
  
"Trance! What the hell is wrong? Dammit!" He pulled his hand back and inspected the red scratch marks on it. Then he lunged forward and toppled over on top of her. "Tell me what's wrong!"  
  
"Get away from me!" Trance yelled at the top of her lungs. The sound echoed off the walls and down the hall in both directions. 'Oh God, he's on top of me...' She couldn't stand it. She struggled under him, frantic. She felt sick.  
  
"Jesus, Trance! Even those aliens could hear you now! What's the matter?!?!" He fought to keep her pinned down under him. Unfortunately, the difference in gravity on this planet didn't work to Harper's advantage and Trance was able to pull herself out from under him, something that she normally wouldn't be able to do. She tore down the hallway, crying, tears wetting her face. She could hear him running after her.   
  
"You don't care!" she yelled over her shoulder as she rounded a corner.  
  
"Trance! Of course I care! Hey! You're going in the wrong direction! You'll get lost! Trance!" Harper panted.  
  
Trance just shook her head and continued to run. She felt as if someone were sitting on top of her; she was barely able to breathe. She gasped at the thin air. She wanted to stop running, but if she did than Harper would catch up to her. He didn't care. He was apologizing for that kiss that had almost happened. But what if she didn't feel the way he did? What if she wanted him care about her like that. She did. But he didn't. 'If I died now, he wouldn't care,' she stifled a sob. She had worked herself up, gotten her hopes up that he wanted to be with her forever. She hadn't been expecting the reaction that he'd given her. And now... She turned into another corridor. Harper's pursuing footsteps grew fainter. She couldn't see where she was going. It was so dark. She stopped running and stood hunched over, wailing. "No," Trance whispered to herself as she choked on her tears. The tears flowed over like a dam caving in. 'He doesn't care about me like that... He regrets it... It didn't mean a thing to him...' Then she gasped out loud. 'Oh my god...' She looked around and felt herself tilting sideways; everything sifted into two, like two slides of the same thing were being pulled slowly apart. She grabbed at the wall. Her double vision became blurry. She could barely breathe. All she could hear was her own rasping and the rapid pulse in her head. Just as she hit the floor and fainted, she realized, "Oh my God... I'm in love with Harper." 


	7. Into the darkness

hey all! you want more? voila! *waves hand mysteriously* --- by the way, i'm open to any suggestions for other possible hook-ups! and yes i know the last part of chapter 6 was a tad dramatic... but hey i was listening to some especially angsty music! *thinks in head: music=life* --- ok, on with the story!!! ( i've been writing a LOT lately haven't i?)  
  
*************  
  
Harper ran back to the boiler room. He had lost her, but he knew which way she had gone, so he went and got his flashlight and started to search. "Trance?" he called down the hallway that he had last seen her turn into. "Trance? Come on, babe... Whatever I did, I'm sorry." He beamed the flashlight around the corner. 'Nope, not down here,' he thought to himself. After getting himself completely turned around, back tracking twice, and starting over three or four times, at last he found her. But it wasn't what he was expecting to come upon. As he cast the flashlight's ray of light down the next corridor, the light fell upon something. It looked like someone curled up on the floor. "Trance?" Harper asked cautiously. "Trance is that you?" He didn't want to get beat up again... but the figure didn't move. It didn't even look like it was breathing... until suddenly the figure lurched and started to wretch. "Trance!" Harper called out in fear. By the time he had reached her though, Trance had become still again. He knelt down and gently turned her over. She was clearly unconscious--- again.   
  
Setting his flashlight down, Harper tried to revive his golden friend, but she remained silent. He checked her pulse. It was weak and he could barely feel it under his finger, but it was there all the same, and that's what mattered. 'Oh great, I'm probably to blame for this,' he thought as he softly patted her cheek. "Come on, babe. Wake up for me, will you?"  
  
After several minutes, Harper decided to take action. "Oof, up ya go," he groaned as he scooped her up into his arms, although she wasn't as heavy as Harper had anticipated. He pulled her arm around his neck and awkwardly leaned over and picked up his flashlight. But instead of beginning to walk and find his way back to the command deck, he simply stood there looking down at her. A strange feeling began to brew inside his stomach and then worked its way up into his throat. "Wouldn't that be just perfect if I threw up NOW of all times," he said aloud. But he wasn't going to vomit. This was something different. Harper stared down at his golden goddess. He felt suddenly peaceful, and he was compelled to lean over and--- 'Ack! No Harper!' he shook the thought out of his head.  
  
As he made his way down the dark hall, he whispered to himself, "She's you're friend, friend, friend... nothing more... Friend, friend, friend..."  
  
**************  
  
"Where do you think Harper and Trance are?" Rommie asked.  
  
"Yeah, shouldn't they be back by now?" Beka piped in.  
  
The two looked at each other, worry on their faces.  
  
"Who knows what they're up to..." Tyr grinned. Beka whacked him on his massive forearm. He caught her wrist and held it for a moment, possibly longer than necessary. They just looked at each other.  
  
"Oh-KAY then," Rommie widened her eyes and arched her eyebrows. Tyr dropped Beka's wrist. "Dylan? Where do you think Harper and Trance are?"  
  
"Hmm? Oh, yes, them. I don't know. They're probably on their way back now..." Dylan replaced his head in his arms again. He was so tired.  
  
Tyr sighed and sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall. Beka and Rommie did the same.  
  
"Do you think they're alright?" Beka whispered to Rommie.  
  
Rommie nodded. "I bet they're fine."  
  
"You don't think anything is wrong do you?"  
  
"No, they probably just got lost. You worry too much Beka."  
  
"Funny. Usually I'd be telling you that," Beka grinned and closed her eyes. Soon everyone had fallen into fitful sleeps. Only Rommie remained awake. She sat and let her mind wonder.  
  
***************  
  
Trance moaned and slowly let her eyes flutter open. A pair of wide blue eyes stared back at her. She jumped slightly, but she felt weak. "Trance... you're awake." She realized that she was in Harper's arms.  
  
"Put me down," was her pathetic answer. Not surprisingly, Harper did not. He only gripped her tighter.  
  
"You really had me scared there, Trance. What happened?"  
  
The memories came flooding back. She squirmed. Harper set her down against the wall. "I fainted," she answered plainly, pulling her knees to her chest and hugging her arms around them.  
  
Harper nodded and sat down next to her. "Look, I've been thinking..."  
  
"I've already heard what you think, Harper. Don't repeat it."  
  
Harper closed his mouth and looked at Trance. She did not return his gaze. Impulsively, Harper put his hand under her chin and tilted her face up to his. She didn't fight back this time. She was completely worn out. Slowly, Trance raised her heavy eyelids and met his gaze. "I'm sorry," Harper tried to think of something else to say next. He really was sorry. It killed him to see her looking so hurt, so defeated. But he still wouldn't admit to himself why Trance had reacted so strongly. Deep down, he knew, but that fact remained buried somewhere deep inside where he couldn't find it--- yet. In his mind at the moment, Trance was still just mad at him. Just his friend...  
  
Trance looked into his eyes. She knew that he had no idea how she felt. The result of this realization was an overwhelming sense of loneliness. But she wouldn't pursue it. If Harper didn't love her back, then that was just the way things would be. "I'm sorry too," her response came out high and strained. Trance couldn't bare keeping her feelings hidden. Her lip quivered.  
  
"It's ok..." Harper pulled her head to his chest. Trance started to cry. "No, don't cry. It's ok. I'm not mad at you for what you did." Trance broke out into loud sobs. Harper wrapped his arms around her.   
  
And, feeling Harper breathing against her, Trance felt as if she didn't belong. 'He just thinks of me as a good friend...' she thought, sobbing. She felt as if it were a guilty pleasure simply being embraced by Harper. She hugged her arms around his middle and tried to stop crying. It took too much energy anyway.  
  
***************  
  
"Harper!" Rommie heard the heavy dragging footsteps. "Good lord, what happened?" She suddenly saw that he was carrying Trance in his arms. "Trance..." She reached out to take Trance from Harper's arms. The second that Harper let go, he collapsed on the floor, panting and wheezing. Rommie had thought that Trance wasn't conscious, but in fact she was awake. However, she seemed barely there, in her own world apart from reality. As if she was unaware of what was going on around her. She looked slightly glazed over. "Harper, what happened?" Rommie asked again.  
  
"She- she fainted," Harper sounded on the brink of sleep himself. Rommie helped him over to where the others were sleeping.  
  
"That's it? It just happened?"  
  
"We, ah... got into a slight disagreement and she got a little worked up," Harper was beginning to breathe more evenly now that he lay still. He ran his fingers clumsily through his hair. His chest moved up and down beneath his oil-stained shirt.   
  
To Rommie, it was obvious that Harper was greatly under-stating the situation, but she didn't persist. She just let him rest. After a while, she couldn't tell if he was still asleep or not, but she took her chances. "Trance?" she whispered.  
  
Trance groaned and turned slightly. Her eyes pulled themselves half open. "Yeah?" she said in a wispy sort of voice.  
  
"Are you alright? What happened? Why did you faint?"  
  
Trance pulled her hands over her ears, digressing with the extreme exhaustion. She rolled over with her back to Rommie. She was trying to forget what had happened. She didn't want to remember. She just wanted to sleep...  
  
**************  
  
The next morning, Dylan woke up to find Harper sleeping a meter away from him, and Trance curled up near where Rommie sat. Everyone else was still sleeping. He stood and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He walked over to Rommie and silently motioned for her to come with him so that they could talk without waking the others. She understood and followed him to just on the other side of one of the two command deck doorways. "When did they get back?" Dylan said just above a whisper.  
  
"I'd say an hour or so after everyone fell asleep. Harper came in carrying Trance, but all he would say is that she fainted because she got 'a little worked up over a slight disagreement'."  
  
"You don't believe that, do you?" Dylan asked quizzically.  
  
Rommie shook her head. "No I don't, but I don't think either of them will be talking about what really happened anytime soon."  
  
"Well, if it's health related, they might say something."  
  
"You just want to know what the argument was about, don't you?" Rommie smiled a little.  
  
Dylan was about to smile, but then he became serious again. "Rommie..."  
  
"Yes Dylan?"  
  
"I think that it's starting."  
  
"What's starting?"  
  
"The altitude sickness. You've noticed. I know you have, Rommie."  
  
She said nothing, but she did agree and she didn't need to tell Dylan so. He knew that she was too highly trained to not notice symptoms as obvious as these. "I'm worried too, Dylan. What if we don't find a way to off this barren planet? Harper goes to the boiler room every day and he still can't find the solution to the problem."  
  
"We'll find a way," Dylan said reassuringly after a brief pause of uncertainty. "Have faith, Rommie. Have faith in your captain," he touched her arm. She smiled and nodded, but she was still afraid.  
  
*************  
  
Later that morning, when everyone was awake, Dylan requested a meeting.  
  
"What's this about?" Tyr asked sleepily. Rommie looked at Dylan.  
  
"I've called you all together so that we can discuss the mountain sickness. I think that we are all barring its symptoms."  
  
"No we're not," Beka said, coughing, which didn't help her case.  
  
Dylan raised his eyebrows, "We need to stay low-key from now on, is that clear?"  
  
"Crystal," Harper sighed.  
  
"It's not like anyone was doing anything except Harper," Beka grumbled to Tyr under her breath. He nodded in agreement and patted her on the shoulder.  
  
At least half of the day went by, and the crew did nothing but simply sit around. Then Rommie looked up suddenly.  
  
"What is it?" Tyr asked.  
  
"Nothing, probably just the wind." But then Tyr heard it too: a low rumble in the distance. Soon, everyone, even Trance who was in a slight delirium, were listening carefully to the noise. It seemed to be approaching fast.   
  
"They're coming back," Tyr stood and went to pick up the biggest weapon he could find in the pile. "Here," he tossed one to Dylan, then to Beka and Rommie. When everyone had a large gun along with their small ones, they sat back down.   
  
"It'll most likely take a half an hour for them to get here," Rommie calculated, judging by the degree of the vibration beneath them.  
  
"Oh great, so we just sit here and wait?" Harper asked nervously.  
  
"It seems that way doesn't it," Tyr replied.  
  
"Well, shouldn't we make a plan or something? If we have a half an hour..." everyone looked up in surprise to hear Trance actually speaking something logical. She'd been zoning out ever since she and Harper had returned the previous night. "They'll definitely kill us if we aren't prepared."  
  
"You're right, Trance," Dylan hoisted himself up again. "We should position ourselves around the ship. We might be able to scare them off again," he addressed his crew.  
  
Tyr stood up boldly. He had that look in his eye, Beka noted. That look that he always got before a battle. "I agree," he looked at the rest of them, still sitting on the floor.  
  
"Well, come on!" Harper jumped to his feet. "Let's kick their alien butts!"  
  
************  
  
In the next twenty minutes, the crew split up into pairs: Tyr and Beka, Rommie and Trance, Dylan and Harper.  
  
"I can see them," Trance jutted out her jaw, scanning the horizon through the window where she and Rommie were stationed. There was a huge cloud of red dust moving steadily toward the ship. Trance looked down at her massive weapon. It was almost as big as her.  
  
Rommie heaved her own up onto her shoulder. "They'll be here any minute now."  
  
"Do you think that they have weapons?" Trance's voice quavered.   
  
"I think they ARE the weapons," Rommie was a little nervous too. She was remembering the deafening pounding that they had made on the first day on the planet. She tightened her grip on the huge fire arm.  
  
***********  
Tyr and Beka waited.  
  
"Do you think that they might be coming in peace?" Beka asked softly.  
  
"No," Tyr said without hesitating. He looked down meaningfully at his friend for a moment. She looked disappointed... And then: "Open the door!" Tyr yelled, realizing how close the hoard of aliens had gotten to the ship in only a few seconds. Beka took a deep breath, braced herself, and opened the emergency hatch. There was a hiss, followed by a gust of wind and dust. Beka choked on her own surprise. It really did feel like there was no air at all out there. The two stood solid in the open doorway. "Now!" Tyr yelled again once the front line of alien attackers was in range. They both started firing. The ground shook as the massive creatures fell to the ground. Oddly, they made no noise.   
  
"Keep firing!" Beka called above the noise and ducked back into the ship to reload. When she returned to the doorway, she gaped. 'Oh my god,' she thought. The aliens kept coming, more and more as if there was no end to them. She and Tyr hadn't even made a dent. There were just too many of them. She could see the bright white rays of the others' guns as they fired from different points on the ship.  
  
Tyr lowered his gun, something he would normally never do. Beka looked up in surprise. "We can't win this," he said finally. Something in his voice made Beka's heart stop. What was it?... It was the sound of defeat. And coming from Tyr, it was a rude awakening.  
  
************  
  
"There's no end to them!" Harper screamed in panic above the thunderous noise of the stampede. "We're just wasting ammo!"  
  
"We can't give up! Don't stop firing!" Dylan continued to shoot at random into the mass.  
  
Harper had never been much of a fighter, but he knew when to back out of a battle he couldn't possibly win. He dropped his gun to his side. Dylan looked over at him. The aliens were almost to the ship now. Harper gulped, closed his eyes, and waited for an alien to come and rip his head off. There was no way that they could get out of this one...  
  
**************   
  
Rommie wouldn't stop firing. "Rommie, put the gun down!" Trance was yelling, tugging on Rommie's arm. "Stop! It's pointless!" Trance stopped wrestling the android down when Rommie froze abruptly. Trance looked up to see why Rommie had ceased her firing, and suddenly she couldn't breathe.   
  
A huge creature stood towering over them. It had short limbs and a huge barreled chest that expanded greatly and shrunk back again every few seconds. Its veins and muscles showed through as a dull red under transparent beige skin. It had two tiny black eyes set deep into a small head. It raised one massive fist high over Trance's head. She screamed. Rommie tried to fire, but her gun was out of ammo. She looked up helplessly at the fist looming overhead. The creature raised its fist high into the air, about to strike down. Then suddenly, it froze. A second alien was looking intensely at the back of the first one's head. It slowly lowered its boulder-like fist. Rommie pulled Trance, who stood frozen in fear, away from the door.   
  
"Run!" she yelled, pressing the button to close the door. Trance stumbled down the hallway. She stopped when she heard Rommie scream. There was a ripping of metal against metal and Trance turned around just in time to see the door being pulled completely off of the ship. Rommie yelled out in pain. "Run!" she ordered again, looking back and seeing Trance standing still. But Trance wouldn't. She dashed back to Rommie. They held onto each other for dear life as the creature scooped them up like toothpicks and pulled them out of the ship.  
  
Trance and Rommie struggled, but couldn't pull themselves free. It was hopeless. The alien was far too strong. Trance gasped in shock. She couldn't breathe at all. She felt dust clog in her dry throat. She gave up screaming. There wasn't enough oxygen. She looked back at the Andromeda over the creature's shoulder as it joined the huge stampede retreating back to where they had come from. It was obvious that the impact of the crash landing had permanently re-shaped the face of the planet. The ship lay in a charred crater, and was now half buried in the planet's reddish sand. She saw Rommie point to their left. More of the hulking aliens had retrieved the rest of the crew. Trance could just make out the blond head of Harper, putting up an amazing struggle. She closed her eyes. They had all been captured. And what would they do now?   
  
After a very long time- what seemed like hours-, Trance opened her eyes again. She could see a steep incline before her, and at the bottom, the mouth of an extremely dark cave. The huge hoard of aliens was rapidly disappearing into the cavern entrance. She closed her eyes as she and Rommie were carried into the darkness. 


	8. Voices

i won't be able to write for a few weeks so savor this chapter!!! lol. i hope you enjoy it!!! if you read this, PLEASE r&r!!! reader input is appreciated!  
  
****************  
  
"We should just kill them," one protested.  
  
"No," a wise Elder said telepathically to the first. "They don't deserve to die."  
  
"But they killed U'dam!"  
  
"Yes, but who attacked who first?"   
  
There was a silence.  
  
"Just as I thought," the Elder shook her head. "You can't just kill a creature."  
  
"But they're foreign!"  
  
"As we must seem to them."  
  
The young Kolg thought for a moment. There was no swaying the Elders. "But-" he attempted, but stopped short. It was pointless. "I don't see why they have to live. We're all going to die soon anyway," he said mentally to himself.  
  
"You must know that I can hear all of your innermost thoughts, Velar," the Elder pointed out to the back of the young one's head. Since their race communicated telepathically, any whispers, or even thoughts, could be heard on the open telepathy waves--- to a trained ear.   
  
"Oh, of course! After all, you're such a good listener," he snapped, turning back to face the Elder.  
  
"Do not anger those wiser than yourself."  
  
"You know that it doesn't matter if we keep those 'things' alive! We're ALL going to die! Every single organism on this dead heap of rock is going to die!"  
  
"It's our time. You know that. We must accept our fate."  
  
"And what if some of us don't want to go just yet! What do you say to that?" Then Velar's telepathic words dropped to a mere whisper. "You keep us on this planet against our will, and you murder us. You murder us all," he said venomously and stormed out of the cave room, leaving the Elder in silence.  
  
**************  
  
Harper stood in his old house back on Earth, next to a young child: himself. The Dragans were banging viciously on the door. Harper's father braced himself in front of Harper's mother, between her and the front door.  
  
"Go. Take the little ones," he whispered.  
  
"No..." his mother weeped.  
  
"You must." The two embraced.  
  
Now, the young Harper left the current one's side, coming into the scene. His mother took him and his little cluster of siblings into the back yard. "Hide here. Keep quiet. They'll be gone soon. If you hear gunshots, run." The young Harper curled up behind a small pile of junk with his brothers, sisters, and cousins. The current Harper stepped in front of his passing mother.  
  
"Ma-" he started, but she walked straight through him. He followed her back inside. "No!" he cried out as he turned and saw that his father was opening the front door. The menacing Dragans poured in, instantly shooting the man. "No!" Harper yelled again as one Dragan advanced on the quivering young woman, while the others began to ransack the house. She held herself tall and braced herself to the spot, clenching her teeth and balling her delicate hands into fists. Harper could picture himself and all of his brothers and sisters just outside of the house; a frightened little huddled mass. "Take me!" he screamed, jumping in between the Dragan and his mother. "Dammit! Take me!"  
  
The Dragan leaned right through him and hissed to the mother, "There are others."  
  
The woman shook her head. "No," she said determinedly. The Dragan shoved his gun into her side. She gasped and let out a shaky yelp, but stood her ground.  
  
"Where are they?" the Dragan asked, sensing her fear and acting on it.  
  
"There are no others," she repeated. The Dragan stepped completely through Harper, who jumped back to watch, despite his inner protest. The Dragon was centimeters away from the young woman's face, its gun barred into her ribs, angled upward towards her heart.   
  
"Tell me where they are and you will be spared," it hissed.  
  
She leaned forward, jutting out her jaw, until her nose was almost touching the alien's. "You'll never find them," she whispered with such venom, it made the current Harper shudder. In the next instant, his mother screamed out, stiffened, and fell, blue eyes wide open. She was dead.  
  
Everything swirled together and suddenly Harper was standing before a great heap of rubble and dead bodies. His mother, father, and cousin who had recently died- Brendan-, were among the ones fully surfaced on the top of the pile. Harper was fighting back tears. Just then, his mother spoke. It was barely audible. Harper leaned forward. Then he heard it:  
  
"It's all your fault," she coughed hoarsely.  
  
"No," he gulped. His father joined in.  
  
"It's all your fault," the two said in unison. It grew louder. "It's all your fault." His cousin joined in. "It's all your fault!" they chanted. Dead brothers spoke now. "It's all your fault!" Dead sisters: "It's ALL YOUR FAULT! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!!!!"  
  
"It's all my fault," Harper wailed to himself as he sank to his knees. "It's all my fault..." The screaming of his dead family members grew so loud, he had to cover his ears.   
  
Then, above the chanting, Brendan called out, "Don't deny it, Seamus! You did this to us! You did this to us all! You should have stayed! But you left us, Seamus! Traitor!" He joined in the chanting once again.  
  
"It's all my fault! It's all my fault. It's all my..."  
  
*************  
  
"Trance!" Harper screamed, flinging himself up the instant he was awake. His voice echoed all around the thick blanket of darkness. The sound of his plea surrounded him. Trance? Why had he called out her name?  
  
"Mr. Harper?" Dylan's voice said cautiously from a ways off in the abyss of black. "Harper, is that you?"  
  
Harper lay back down, panting, heart racing. Were his eyes open or closed? It was so dark, he couldn't tell.  
  
"Aye aye, Captain," he managed to squeak out.  
  
**************  
  
Tyr folded his arms tightly across his chest. The silence was deafening. The darkness was blinding. He could see the colorful patterns that appeared inside his eyelids when his eyes were closed, but now they were open and the patterns remained. He didn't like the darkness. Not one bit. He couldn't tell if anyone was even a mile nearby. Was he afraid? No... that couldn't be.   
  
"Tyr? Are you there?" came a small voice not far off.  
  
"Beka?" Tyr said louder than he had anticipated.  
  
"Yeah, it's me. Where are we? It's so dark..."   
  
"Are you all right?" Tyr asked, disregarding the last comment. He started to move forward on his knees in the dark. When Beka didn't answer, he asked, "Beka? Beka are you all right?" Urgency grew in his tone.  
  
"It's so cold..."  
  
"Beka!" Tyr had found her. He reached out and pulled on her arm, sliding her across the rocky cave floor towards him. She was shivering like crazy. Almost afraid to, Tyr put a hesitant arm around Beka. "Beka... you're not well."  
  
He could hear her laugh, a short rough cough-like sound. "You always seem to state the obvious, don't you?" There was something not right in the way she spoke. Tyr's brow furrowed, but he could not quite place it.  
  
Suddenly, Beka began to thrash at the thin air in front of her. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed. The sound seemed to echo out into the distance for a very long time. She struggled in Tyr's arms.   
  
"Beka! Beka, snap out of it! There's nothing there, Beka!"   
  
"No! Leave me alone!" Beka started to wheeze. The air was so thin. Her movements slowed, then eventually stopped. Suddenly, she couldn't breathe at all. She gripped Tyr's arm tightly.  
  
"Ow!" Tyr said irritably, but stopped. He couldn't see her face, but he knew the Beka was very frightened. "It's ok, Beka... There's nothing there. It's just me... Breathe, Beka." He felt her muscles tense up. She had completely stopped breathing all together. "Beka!" he said in alarm. He held her face roughly, though he couldn't see it. After several painfully slow seconds, Beka gasped loudly, as if she had been held under water for a long time and was just now surfacing. "Beka..." he was going to ask what had happened, but his guess was as good as hers. And it might scare her more if he made it sound like he had no idea what was happening to her, though it was the plain and simple truth. Instead, he finished his sentence by saying, "... It's going to be ok..." She shook uncontrollably and Tyr pulled her close. He was freezing too.  
  
**************  
  
"Rommie?" Trance asked with meek panic into the abyss of black. She wasn't fond of the dark... but this was a different kind of dark. There was absolutely no light at all. The darkness was so thick, it was suffocating.  
  
There was a mechanical sound as Rommie turned her head in the direction of Trance's voice. "I'm here. Are you all right?"  
  
Trance nodded her head slightly. "Mm hm. How about you?"  
  
"Oh, you know... A few slight malfunctions. That's all. You've been asleep for a long time..."  
  
"How long exactly?"  
  
"I don't know. Maybe a few hours or so? It felt like longer, but that's probably just the dark contributing--"  
  
"I feel sick," Trance suddenly cut in. She grabbed her stomach. She threw up and dragged herself away from the puddle. She groaned. "Oh, I really do feel sick."  
  
"Trance, stay where you are. I'm going to try and find you. You sound close. I know you don't feel like it, but can you keep talking so that I can locate you?" Rommie took the pause and then sudden babbling as a "yes".   
  
There was a dragging sound and after a while, Trance felt a hand grip her wrist. She let out a small yelp, but then relaxed. "Can I stop talking now?"  
  
Rommie smiled, sitting down next to Trance. "Yes, thank you. Hey- I didn't realize that you were by a wall!" She tapped the ragged stone wall behind her. "Well, that's a good sign I suppose." She felt the air move slightly as Trance nodded meekly. Rommie patted her shoulder. "Just go back to sleep. You'll feel better once you're more rested."  
  
Trance didn't need any further persuading. Her eyelids closed heavily, and she was out like a light.  
  
*************  
  
When Trance awoke, it was to something quite strange. It wasn't a noise though. The cave was dead silent. It was something else. Almost like a presence. But it was far away. "Rommie?"  
  
"You're awake! How are you feeling?"  
  
"Better. Just a little drowsy... " She shook her head. She was getting off topic. "Rommie, do you... do you feel anything?" She paused. When Rommie didn't respond, she tried to elaborate. "I mean, like there's someone else here?"  
  
"There's someone else here?!?!" Rommie interrupted abruptly.  
  
"No! No, no... It feels far away... I mean... I don't really understand it... I just feel something. Someone." She hid her face in her hands. She was scared.  
  
*************  
  
Trance knew that Rommie was worried about her; she hadn't said a word to the android all day, or at least, what she thought was a full day. But she had other problems.   
  
She pressed down on the back of her head, pushing her forehead into the top of her knees. She felt nauseous, and she shivered all over. Her chocolate brown leather combat clothes obviously did not retain heat.   
  
But even more frightening were the voices in her head. Earlier, when a silence had fallen after she'd told Rommie about the presence that she felt, Trance had tried to figure out what it was. She'd put all of her concentration into that feeling. After some time, she had started to hear things. Actually, not so much hear. It was as if full statements and ideas were being put into her head, like right after you hear someone say something to you and your brain has to take a moment to register it. It was that feeling of registering the information, but without anyone saying the words at all. At first, it had only been one voice, and then two, then three, then dozens upon dozens. The more she heard, the harder it was to UN-concentrate. Now that she had touched upon some invisible mental wave link, she was unable to pull herself out of it. There were so many things being said, and much of it startled her. Discussions of how to get rid of the "creatures", who she could only assume were the Andromeda crew. Arguments about whether or not Trance and her crew mates could save them, but from what? None of the voices seemed to be saying what it was. It was like some horrible event that all of them knew was coming, but no one dared to speak what it was. One voice had said something that had hit Trance like the delicate touch of an icy hand that made her back jerk into a short yet violent shudder. The voice had said, "You keep us on this planet against our will, and you murder us. You murder us all." It had been filled with such hatred, and for a brief second, Trance had felt a strong current of that emotion, as if it were her own.   
  
Her head ached tremendously. All she wanted was for the hateful words to stop channeling through her mind. She dug her fingernails into her scalp; anything to stop the pain. "Stop," she said to the voices on the wave link. "Please, stop." But it wouldn't. She couldn't hear anything except the words in her head. "Stop it!" she thought more forcefully. The words grew louder, so many at once that they all jumbled together like standing at the entrance of a huge echoing hall full of chattering people. She couldn't single out individual thoughts anymore. "Stop!" she yelled at them mentally. Still they grew louder. She felt blood rushing to her head. It pounded, throbbed. The pain was unbearable. She was on the verge of passing out when she screamed aloud, "STOP IT!"  
  
Suddenly, everything was silent. Dark. The shock of the silence was paralyzing. Trance could hear her scream echoing into the distant expanse of black. Rommie put a hand on her shoulder. Trance was too exhausted to care, to respond, to cry. The voices had sucked all the energy out of her, what little she had had left. Who had she heard? The aliens? Her thoughts drifted off, following after the faint echo of her voice, and she fell asleep once more. 


	9. The ticket

"Tyr?" Beka awoke in his arms. She felt him jump underneath her.  
  
"Yes?" he said after a moment.   
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Ah ha..." Tyr's voice trailed off. After a moment he added, "So are you feeling well?"  
  
"Is that a trick question?" Beka laughed slightly, triggering a loud cough. She let her hand slip under Tyr's. He didn't respond, but he didn't object. "Did I hurt you? I mean, when I saw those... things?"  
  
"No. You could never possibly hurt ME." The corner of his mouth twitched. Even when Beka couldn't see her own hand a centimeter away from her face, she knew that he was grinning. She could feel it. They sat for a long time, Beka moving slowly up and down on top of Tyr's broad chest as he breathed.  
  
Suddenly: "Tyr! Did you see that?"  
  
"See what?"  
  
"Light!"  
  
"Beka- there's nothing there..."  
  
"No! I'm serious! I just saw something! A light!" Tyr tried to calm her down. "I'm not crazy Tyr! Why don't you believe me?" She struggled in his arms. "I'm not crazy..." she whimpered.  
  
****************  
  
"You all right, Harper?" Dylan asked into the darkness.  
  
"Oh, I'm great. Wonderful! JUST peachy... Can you see anything?... 'Cause I can't see a damn thing here--- where ever we are."  
  
"I think we're underground."  
  
"Naw, really? I thought we were on the beach."  
  
"Harper, are you feeling sick at all? Anything out of the ordinary?"  
  
Harper paused for a moment, noting his throbbing headache, unnatural drowsiness, and uneasy paranoid feeling that made his heart race. "I'm fine, just a little head ache- WHOA! Did you see that?"  
  
"See what?" Dylan sat up in alarm, hand automatically reaching for his sheath but finding nothing there.  
  
"A light! Or at least... I think I saw a light. That couldn't have been my eyes playing tricks on me 'cause I can't see anything!" He swung his arm out into the darkness in front of him. "OW!" he yelped and recoiled his arm.   
  
"What happened now?"  
  
"There- no... that can't be..." Harper groped around in front of him. "Dylan! You won't believe this!"  
  
"What? WHAT!" Dylan was crawling over in the direction of Harper's voice until he bumped into him and they both toppled over. Harper yelled at the top of his lungs at the initial contact. "Harper! It's me! Calm down! What was it you were say-" He stopped. "Hu-- Harper... there's a wall right in front of us..." he whispered in amazement.  
  
"Yeah, and it HURTS too!" Harper rubbed his hand.  
  
"No, no, this is good..." He paused a moment, feeling about the stoney wall. "This may be our ticket out."  
  
**************  
  
sorry this chapter's so short! i'm kinda pressed for time these days! hope you enjoy! there's a lot yet to come, so stay tuned... heh heh... so many tricks up my sleeve... *LAUGHS EVILLY* ok. more soon. please r&r!!!! 


	10. The Trial

ok ppls, you wanted more? well here you go! enjoy! and please, no flames!  
~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***~~***  
Harper panted in the darkness. 'Hand over hand. Right over left...' he thought to himself. He'd been crawling behind Dylan, along the continuous wall, for hours. His hands were rubbed raw from feeling his way down the rough wall texture. His chest was tight and his head spun. His limbs tingled from lack of oxygen and there was a dull and constant pain just behind his eye sockets. His legs ached and his knees were almost numb from crawling on them for so long. He couldn't endure much more of this. "Dylan," he panted. "I---" but he couldn't say any more. He collapsed on the floor, leaning his head back against the wall he'd come to hate. He could hear Dylan sit down beside him.  
  
"You're right. We should have taken a break sooner." There was a silence in which the only thing either one could hear was their own heavy breathing. After a while: "How are you holding up?"  
  
Harper said nothing for a moment, the words of his response playing inside his head, but not backed by the energy to speak them aloud.   
  
"Harper? If you aren't feeling well-"  
  
"No... I-- I'm fine... No. I'm not fine. This is ridiculous! How do we know we aren't going in freakin' circles? Or going downhill instead of uphill? Or... Dylan," he finally broke down to pleading, "please, can we stop. I'm so tired."  
  
There was a long silence. "No."  
  
Harper sat in mild shock, but then again, why was he so surprised? Dylan was set in his ways. Harper knew that he was becoming very sick. It was obvious. And if he pushed himself much further... 'Oh, suck it up,' he thought viciously to himself. "Fine," he replied to Dylan, flipping onto his knees once more and feeling along the wall. Dylan hesitated. What if Harper was coming down with something worse than altitude illness? With a pang, Dylan recalled the horrid memories from over three hundred years ago. But he had to keep going; he couldn't let Harper get too far ahead of him. So on they crawled.  
  
**************************  
  
"Do you hear something?" Rommie sat erect beside Trance's slouching figure.   
  
"Hmm?" came Trance's weak reply.   
  
Rommie said nothing in return. She did not know what was happening to Trance inside her head. There was much that she did not know about this new golden Trance. She was still very much a mystery to the whole crew. There. Rommie heard it again: a distant panting and dragging sound. "Trance, listen."   
  
Trance tried to sit up. She was concentrating so hard to keep the voices from invading her head again, that it was hard to think of anything else. Reluctantly, she pulled her head up, straightening her back against the stone wall. Rommie was on her knees now, leaving Trance still on the floor. "There. Did you hear it that time?" Trance strained her ears. Beyond the pounding of her blood, she thought that she could hear the distant traces of someone breathing, heavily. And then-  
  
Rommie gripped Trance's shoulder. Voices, echoing in the distance. A soft murmur. It grew louder.   
  
"What should we do?" Trance whispered shakily.   
  
In response, Rommie placed one hand lightly over Trance's mouth and called out, "Who is it? Who's there?"   
  
The murmuring stopped. The panting stopped. The dragging stopped. A long pounding silence. "Rommie?"  
  
"Dylan?"  
  
"Rommie! Where are you?"  
  
"Over here! Follow my voice!"  
  
"Is anyone with you?"  
  
"Trance."  
  
There was a brief pause. "It doesn't sound like she's there."  
  
"She's... well, I'm not really sure what's happening to her."  
  
Trance! Harper thought he would collapse right then and there. She was alive. But what was wrong with her? Nothing could be wrong with her! She was the healer! The oracle. The one who knew everything. He wanted to say something, but if he thought about talking and crawling at the same time, he would surely fall over. And in his state, he couldn't risk not being able to get up again. He slowly pulled himself along behind Dylan.  
  
Dylan was moving as fast as his body would allow. Rommie continued to talk: something about Trance's head and a lot of fainting. At last, he could feel body heat. He reached out.   
  
The person's shoulder jerked, but they made no noise. 'This must be Trance,' Dylan thought. Soon he felt another person. "Rommie!" She was gripping his arm and pulling him slowly toward her. He sat on the other side of her and collapsed. "Harper? You doing all right?" Dylan called out. The sound of dragging was his response.  
  
"Harper's with you?" Rommie said in surprise.  
  
While Rommie and Dylan began to talk, Harper pulled himself forward until he felt something warm ahead of him. It was Trance. Sitting against the wall beside her, he tried to steady his breathing. "Hey," he managed to whisper hoarsely. She did not respond verbally, but reached out a feeble hand, landing it on Harper's shoulder. With that, she fell into her catatonic state again. Harper closed his eyes, and, sitting shoulder to shoulder with Trance, he passed out.  
  
"But Dylan," Rommie was whispering, "you could have made him worse."  
  
"We wouldn't have found you then."  
  
"True, but- I just don't want anything to happen to him. And with his weak immune system as it is, even in a controlled environment. Who knows what illnesses are on this planet."  
  
"It's not viruses that I would worry about."  
  
"Dylan, what are you not telling me? I know that you're hiding something."  
  
"And why are you so sure?"  
  
Rommie hesitated. "I... I guess I just know my captain too well."  
  
"Do you now?" Dylan's head was leaned in close so that they could talk without disturbing Harper and Trance, who were obviously not WITH them . Rommie made no move to pull back, even as she sensed Dylan leaning in closer. She wished that there was some light. ANY light at all would be better than this total and utter darkness.  
  
"You're avoiding the question," Rommie said finally.  
  
"Maybe it should be avoided," Dylan pulled back slightly.   
  
Rommie said nothing. Dylan's tone had changed. Now it was tainted with the underlying bitterness of a bad memory. She heard Dylan sigh. 'He must be tried,' she thought sympathetically. She pulled away so that he could rest. She sat in the darkness, wishing that she too could fall sleep, and suddenly felt very much alone.  
  
*****************  
  
"Dylan? You awake?" Rommie felt the stale air shift slightly as Dylan sat up.   
  
"Yes. How about them?" He cocked his head in Harper and Trance's direction, but soon remembered that Rommie couldn't see him.   
  
Yet she seemed to understand. "I can't really tell... Dylan, I strongly believe that Harper has outdone himself. He's almost as bad as Trance. He barely responds to anything. And all three of you must be starving."   
  
"Not to mention Tyr and Beka. That's next on our agenda."  
  
"No, we can't go anywhere if those two aren't capable of moving. We can't risk splitting up and then not being able to find each other again. You know that."  
  
"Always the logical one... So what do YOU propose we do?"  
  
"I don't know. That's your job. You're the captain aren't you?"  
  
"I hadn't noticed."  
  
Rommie shrugged irritably. "I don't think we should move. And you're not going to get any kind of opinion from them, so it appears that you have been overruled."  
  
"Well," Dylan almost laughed, "I suppose we should stay here for a while then- but only for a little bit mind you. We're likely to starve here if we stay too long in one place."  
  
"All right then," Rommie said with satisfactory.   
  
The two sat in silence, Dylan resting and Rommie thinking.  
  
************************  
  
"Dylan!" Rommie practically screamed.  
  
Dylan jerked out of sleep and sat up quickly. Three huge luminous figures approached the group at an alarming rate. Dylan looked over and, to his horror, saw Trance rolling in violent convulsions, tearing at her head and hair. Harper looked barely conscious. Looking back at the figures, Dylan shielded his eyes. Their light stung like walking from a dark room to the outdoors. Rommie was standing protectively in front of the other three. Dylan struggled up, leaning against the wall. He realized that the creatures were the same aliens who had taken them. Only now they looked quite different, their skin giving off millions of tiny pinpricks of light. Their once beige transparent shin now glowed a faint yellowish color.  
  
"Dylan, do we attack?"  
  
"No," Dylan said, turning to Rommie. Oh, how good it was to see again!   
  
After a moment, Dylan looked again at the aliens. Now they were close, very close. The ground shook slightly as they approached. They stopped right in front of the four crewmates. Dylan was breathing heavily. Rommie and Dylan stared for a long time, and the three aliens stared back with unblinking eyes, intently searching for some form of communication.  
  
"AAAAAAAA!!!" Trance's shrill scream startled all of those standing. She flung herself against the wall. "GET OUT! GET OUT! LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" One alien looked at the writhing golden creature on the floor for a moment, staring straight at her head. All at once, Trance stopped moving. She looked up, as if it was the very first time she had been awake, her eyes full of wonder. She stared intently at the alien, her forehead wrinkling with concentration. Her expressions changed as if she were having a conversation in her head. Then she nodded and looked up at Dylan and Rommie, who were both in shock.   
  
"Tr- Trance... What..." Dylan tried to ask.   
  
Trance smiled.  
  
"But you were so sick," Rommie objected.  
  
"I'll tell you everything later. But right now, we must go with these aliens." Her head moved back a little and she smiled at the alien. "Excuse me, we must go with these three Kolg."  
  
Dylan and Rommie stood awestruck. "All right then," Dylan said breathlessly as he stepped around Trance and hoisted up Harper's limp body. Trance's face fell. She reached out a tentative hand and touched his dangling arm. "He'll be fine, Trance. Don't worry."  
  
"Right."   
  
They followed the Kolg down a now illuminated passageway carved out of the planet's stone core. They walked in silence for some time before Rommie said something.  
  
"Trance, what happened back there? You- well we thought that you had gone mad. You seemed to not be with us. You were- somewhere else."  
  
"I could hear them speaking," Trance murmured. "All of them at once. I don't know how else to describe it. They were all inside my head, but they did not know it. They were having normal conversations. I heard only a few at first, then more and more. I must have had their entire population inside my head. The pain was..." Her voice trailed off. She stumbled slightly. Rommie reached out to help her walk. "Thank you. I'm pretty drained."  
  
Rommie waited for her to say more, but she did not continue. Rommie knew that she shouldn't pry. She should wait until Trance was ready to speak in depth about it. Dylan was struggling with Harper's body over his shoulder ahead of she and Trance. His feet dragged against the ground as he tried to keep the pace of the Kolg. Rommie thought for a moment. "Were those voices the same as that presence you felt earlier?"  
  
"Yes," Trance nodded. It felt like ages ago. But now she could see. She watched Harper's head bounce against Dylan's back with every step he made. She felt a small pang of fear in her belly. His skin looked blue- or was it just the poor lighting? 'Oh, what I would give for the med. deck right now,' Trance thought sorrowfully. She herself did not feel well; she was dizzy, her stomach churned, and her heart beat in irregular flutters inside her ribcage. However, it was clear that Harper was much worse. She looked over Dylan's other shoulder and studied the nearest Kolg. What strange, silent creatures they were! Never had she encountered something quite like this before!   
  
Her thoughts traveled back to the hateful words that had stuck out in her head. "... Murder us all." What had it meant? And why was there so much sorrow and fear in this race? These thoughts made her feel even worse. And what had just happened? As the three Kolg had approached, the voices had returned at full, even worse than before. And then they had stopped. A female voice, powerful and calm, had spoken softly to her...  
  
"You must harness the link. It will kill you if you cannot control what you hear. You must find that mental harness. You are different. You can hear us. I will have much to discuss with you... after the trial," the voice had said. After the trial? Trance had missed that part at first. 'What trial?' she thought in sudden alarm.  
  
"Where are Tyr and Beka?" Trance said suddenly.  
  
Rommie looked up in surprise.  
  
"Dylan and Harper are with us. What about Tyr and Beka?"  
  
"I don't know. We didn't find them. Why?"  
  
"I'm just... concerned. And why shouldn't I be? They're a part of the team!"  
  
Rommie smiled a little. "I think Tyr and Beka can take care of themselves just fine. I wouldn't worry too much." This was a joke, but Trance did not see the humor of it. "What is it?"  
  
"They... these kolg... they're taking us to a trial."  
  
"WHAT?" Rommie said too loudly. Dylan turned around.   
  
"Trial. That's what they told me."  
  
"Who told you what?" Dylan asked.  
  
"We'll talk about this at a more convenient time," Trance said shortly, fore they were reaching the end of the tunnel. Dylan and Rommie looked forward too. They gaped. The dim tunnel opened into a huge room with towering ceilings and walls of faintly glowing yellow. It was some type of fluorescent mineral. Hundreds of Kolg milled about, their skin glowing not quite as bright in the cavern's light.  
  
"There they are," a strange voice hissed in Trance's head. She turned her head sharply too see that many kolg had stopped to stare at them. Voice's picked up as the aliens glanced at each other. Trance stumbled slightly at the voices, but now it was basically like hearing people murmur around you, as if they were speaking verbally... but they weren't.   
  
The three kolg led them through the crowds of radiating hulking figures and to the opposite end of the cavern. Here, the stone had been cut in such a way that it rose in rough tears to create a platform. One of the three kolg climbed this now and stood facing the growing numbers of curious kolg.  
  
"My people," it began- the same female voice that had spoken to Trance before- "These are the one's who murdered U'dam." The crowd broke out in murmuring. Some cried out angrily. "But they will have a trial." This caused much protest.   
  
"Just kill them!" Trance shivered. It was that hateful voice. She stepped closer to Rommie and Dylan.  
  
"Do not underestimate these creatures," said the female kolg with an eery calmness. "One of them can hear us." All talking stopped abruptly. "Which one, I will not say. And they will not reveal it to you either. You must treat them each with the same respect as if they can all understand you. You never know which one will be listening..." Then, as she continued to speak, Trance heard separate words in her head. The same voice, but only a whisper as the louder voice spoke to the public. She was speaking individually to Trance and separately to the other kolg... at the same time. "Listen to me now. The others cannot hear this. Do not react to anything that we say. If you speak with your other friends, none of us will understand you. Can you be trusted? Can I trust you?"  
  
Trance was not sure how to respond without all the others hearing. She looked carefully at the kolg standing above her.  
  
"You are wise. I can see that now. I can hear your thoughts. Most cannot, so do not fret. Only the other Elders and I can hear you... if they bother listening." And then she stopped. Trance could now hear what the female kolg was continuing to say to the crowd. She marveled, but soon remembered to keep her face blank. Rommie and Dylan were standing stiffly. Trance hesitated to speak aloud. It was hard to believe that the kolg would not hear her. "Go on," the female kolg whispered, with a note that one would hear if someone spoke while smiling fondly.  
  
"They can't hear us," Trance said to the other two.  
  
"Are you sure? Why are they all just standing there?" Dylan shifted Harper's limp figure to the floor.  
  
"Yes, I am positive that they can't hear us. And they are not just standing. They're communicating."  
  
"Talking?" Rommie asked.  
  
"Yes," and Trance began to explain everything to them.   
  
After all was said, Dylan started, "So we're on trial? For the murder of..."  
  
"U'dam."  
  
Rommie cut in, "But we killed so many of them. Why are we only on trial for the one?"  
  
"Wait," Trance put up a hand. The female Elder was speaking to her, cleverly not looking directly at her.  
  
"What do they call you?" she asked.  
  
Trance thought her name, hoping that the kolg would hear it. She did.  
  
"Ah, Trance Gemini. An interesting name. I am Daedra, the Second Elder. Wait- do not look at me while I speak to you." Trance looked at the floor. "The trial will begin now," Daedra said, and Trance could tell that she was now speaking to the whole crowd.   
  
"They're starting the trial," Trance informed Dylan and Rommie. She swallowed nervously and glanced around at the public.  
  
"How does it look for us?" Dylan asked.  
  
Trance shook her head. "It's too soon to tell. I'm sorry." Dylan nodded.  
  
"Should we sit down or what?" Rommie asked.   
  
"If we sit, we sit at the same time."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because we can't let them single any of us out. If they do, then they might figure out that I'm the one who can hear them." The others nodded.  
  
"So... on the count of three?" Dylan suggested.  
  
"One... Two... Three." They all sat down and waited in silence. Trance listened to the accusations.  
  
"They killed him. And all of those soldiers! There's no denying it!"  
  
"I am not," Daedra replied calmly.  
  
"You can't make the decision yourself!"  
  
"Bring the First Elder!"  
  
"The First Elder!" the crowd chanted.  
  
"Silence!" a commanding voice hollered. The hall fell deadly silent once more. The crowds parted and murmured prayer-like addresses to the massive kolg that emerged from the cave entrance. This one glowed so brightly that Dylan, Trance, and Rommie had to shield their eyes. He towered even higher than the rest of the kolg. Moving slowly, he made his way through the crowd towards the platform. "Honors," he said briefly to Daedra, positioning himself beside her.  
  
"Honors," she replied back in a terribly respectful tone.  
  
"Who is that?" Dylan asked. Trance pulled back abruptly.  
  
"The First Elder."  
  
"Isn't that other kolg the Second?" Rommie asked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I think I might actually be starting to understand these creatures," Dylan commented. "All right, you can listen to them again. You're our ears for this you know."  
  
Trance nodded and smiled, then shifted herself mentally to listen to the kolg trial.  
  
The trial went on for hours, heated and very much divided.  
  
"It doesn't look good for us," Trance commented. "But I don't think that Daedra will let anything happen to us."  
  
"You think," Dylan repeated. "Great."  
  
Trance went back to listening.  
  
"We can't kill them! Don't you see that?"  
  
"They deserve nothing more than what they gave U'dam!"  
  
"And the soldiers!"  
  
"No! They deserve life! Not death!"  
  
"They fought in self defense!"  
  
"Let the Elders decide!"  
  
"No! Let the public decide!"  
  
"This is getting us nowhere! Idiocy!" Daedra spoke after long being subdued. "We shall not harm them! If we can make them understand our culture, then it won't die with the planet!" Her words were harsh and cutting, leaving everyone to think.  
  
"A valid point," the First Elder added. "You," he turned to the crowd, "do not listen to her words of wisdom! What has become of us? Has the Green Blume destroyed everything? Our morale? Our decency? We are alive, so let it be peaceful while it lasts." The crowd contemplated this.  
  
Trance's heart beat wildly. The Green Blume? While this lasts? While WHAT lasts? Life itself?  
  
"Honors!" a powerful voice called out from the cave entrance. All turned to look at the large kolg who had just entered.  
  
"Honors, respected guard," the First Elder said. "What have you to say?"  
  
"I have nothing to say, but much to show."   
  
To Trance's horror, the guard stepped forward.  
  
"What?" Dylan asked urgently, hearing her gasp and seeing the terrified look on her sparkling face.  
  
"L- look," was all that Trance say. The three crew mates stood.   
  
Rommie gasped and cried out, covering her face with shaky hands.   
  
Dylan cursed under his breath.   
  
Before them, through the parted crowd, the hulking guard stood with two figures, one slung over each massive shoulder... The limp and broken bodies of Try and Beka.  
*******************  
BWAHAHAHAAAA!!!! ok that was fun. you like? PLEASE R&R!!!!! --- and i promise, nobody dies... or DO they? hmmmmm.... **strokes chin. thinks to self: DO they now...?**   
~TBC~ 


	11. The Trial's End

The three of them stood, stunned. Trance stared with wide eyes, her mind racing furiously.  
  
"What have you DONE to them???" Trance thought viciously.  
  
Daedra quickly addressed the Guard. "Explain this!"  
  
The guard paused for a moment, as if searching for the right words. "I was told to go find them... for the trial." He paused, waiting for acknowledgment. The First Elder nodded. "As I came upon them, the larger one sprung on me and started to attack. The smaller one joined in." Again he paused. Trance was hanging on his words, willing him to continue. "There was no way to stop them. I didn't have a choice. I had to defend myself."  
  
"What are they saying?!" Dylan sounded livid.  
  
"Tyr and Beka attacked that guard when he went to find them and take them to the trial. He had to defend himself." Trance avoided Dylan's eyes.  
  
"Some defense he's got," Dylan muttered.  
  
"You see?" Daedra was saying when Trance tuned back in to the kolg wave links. "This royal guard was simply protecting himself from attacks that he couldn't reason with. These creatures were in the same situation. We attacked them, and they fought back. Naturally."  
  
"Trance! Are they dead? Ask if they're dead," Dylan was cutting into her concentration.  
  
She waved him away. "I'm trying to listen!" Trance tuned in again quickly, afraid that she would miss something important.  
  
"I still say we should kill them!"  
  
"If we kill them, then we should kill the guard as well, if we follow the same morals for both cases!"  
  
"Why don't we send some of our kind back with them?"  
  
Most kolg fell silent.  
  
The speaker continued: "I say we teach these creatures our culture, our history, and then send them off before the Green Blume engulfs the planet! We don't have to be lost in memory! We could become a part of history!"  
  
The two Elders looked at each other, apparently speaking privately. Then the First Elder nodded. "That is the most valid idea we have heard yet. We shall teach these creatures of our ways. They will be our highly honored guests. Is that clear?" No one dared speak out to an Elder, so there was no objection.  
  
"Daedra," Trance thought very hard. "My friends need medical attention."  
  
"Yes, Trance. Of course. Respected Guard! Come!"  
  
"Honors," the massive alien said as he strode forward through the dispersing crowds to the platform.  
  
"Honors. Take the two that you now carry to Sage. They must be healed immediately."  
  
"Yes, Second Elder." The guard hurried out of the cavern and disappeared down the main tunnel.   
  
The cavern was nearly empty, when Trance finally let herself listen to Dylan again, who had been talking the entire time.  
  
"Where is everyone going? Trance if you ignore me one more second... TRANCE! I'M YOUR CAPTAIN! You HAVE to listen to me! What-"  
  
"Dylan," Trance cut in, turning towards him, "we are now the respected guests. They're taking Tyr and Beka to... whatever they do for medical attention." Suddenly she remembered something. She looked around wildly for a moment until she found Harper, sprawled out on the platform steps, still clearly unconscious.   
  
"Daedra! Wait! What about Harper?" Trance pointed to him, stepping closer to him.  
  
"Trance?" Dylan pulled at her outstretched arm. Trance's concentration was broken and she looked up irritably at her captain. "I don't think that these kolg can help him. He needs OUR medical technology.   
  
"Well what do you want me to do then?" Trance snapped.   
  
Dylan sighed. "Ask them to take us to Tyr and Beka. I don't trust these aliens yet."  
  
Trance nodded and turned wearily to Daedra. "Could you take us to where our companions are being healed?"   
  
"Of course. I'll take you myself."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Daedra bowed her head slightly and stepped down the chiseled steps.  
  
"Would you like me to carry this one?"   
  
Trance turned, startled. The First Elder was standing somewhat behind her.  
  
"Oh! Yes, thank you."  
  
"Hey! Hey! Whoa! What does he think he's doing?" Dylan made a move for Harper as the Elder scooped him up.  
  
"They're taking us to Tyr and Beka. The First Elder has offered to carry Harper for us. I don't think it would be wise to object."  
  
"Trance's right," Rommie spoke finally after remaining silent for so long. "Let's just play along?" she spoke to Dylan as if it were a question. Dylan sighed, outnumbered.  
  
The procession made their way down to the other end of the cavern, entered the main tunnel and turned left into a narrower one. This tunnel glowed faintly in a weak red color. Trance looked worriedly at Harper's limp body, his blond head bouncing off the Elder's back as it walked. Harper's skin did look blue, even under colored lighting. The corners of his lips were dark blue, as was the skin under his fingernails. The rest of his skin appeared pale and sickly. Trance hoped that they could cure him in time... before he- no. She couldn't think about that. If she had to watch him die again, she wouldn't be able to take it. He couldn't die on her. Not this time.   
  
********************  
  
When the group came to a small hollow at the end of the tunnel, they turned into it and halted. A small kolg was hunched over Beka, its hands overlapping each other, hovering an inch or so from Beka's chest. The group watched in awe as a blinding blast of light burst from the kolg's palms and seeped into Beka. Her body jerked and her back arched convulsively. As the light faded into her, her body fell limp again. No one seemed to breathe as they waited for something to happen. Trance almost jumped out of her skin as Beka gasped and yanked herself up. She grabbed her throat, sweat drenching her forehead, and she rasped and wheezed. She gripped her head as if to steady herself and then looked up. Her eyes seemed glazed over and unfocused as she stared at Dylan, Trance, Rommie, and the massive pair of kolg accompanying them. Her lip quivered and she crumpled over, sinking into shuddering, sickly sobs.  
  
*******************   
  
Sorry about the short chapter, but I'm really pressed for time right now. In two weeks or so I should be able to post another chapter. Please just sit tight. Again, sorry this entry is so short. R&R!  
  
ECHO~ 


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